Bayer in free fall in Frankfurt. In fact, by mid-morning the German pharmaceutical giant's stock dropped 19,56% to 33,78, achieving the worst performance of the Dax and Stoxx Europe 600 and reaching a multi-year low.
They are at the root of the collapse two negative pieces of news for the company, arrived almost simultaneously: the first is the surprise announcement of suspension of a study on a new anti-coagulant drug. The second is the sentence to pay a maxi compensation of 1,5 billion of dollars decided by a US court.
Bayer and the stop to the study on the anticoagulant drug
Bayer made it known that 'Oceanic-Af, one study reached phase III evaluating asundexian versus apixaban (a direct oral anticoagulant) in patients with atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke, was stopped early due to the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) of the research, as part of surveillance in course, which showed lower effectiveness of asundexian compared to the control arm. Bayer stressed that it “will further analyze the data to understand the outcome and will publish the data.”'
For Barclays analysts, due to this failure, the pharmaceutical division of the pharmaceutical group risks having to face great difficulties. The experimental drug asundexian was in fact considered a element of great importance for Bayer, because it could have helped the same division to resume its growth path after the loss of the exclusivity of the anti-coagulant Xarelto and the ocular drug Eylea. The British bank's experts lowered their recommendation on the stock from “over-weight” to “neutral weight” and reduced the price target from 65 to 40 euros.
“We believe that the abandonment of the test is a very negative element because asundexian was a key drug in Bayer's portfolio,” Morgan Stanley analysts write. The drug, a competitor to the products of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, was expected to generate an annual turnover of over 5 billion euros.
Bayer and the huge compensation of 1,5 billion dollars
Over the last weekend, a huge blow came from the USA. The jury in Cole County, Missouri, sentenced Bayer to pay a $1,56 billion settlement. Jurors ruled Friday that the company Monsanto of Bayer is responsible for allegations of negligence, design defects and failure to warn of potential dangers arising from the use of theRoundup herbicide, according to court documents. The jury ordered the three plaintiffs to pay a total of $61,1 million in compensatory damages and $500 million each in punitive damages.
Each of the plaintiffs has in fact been diagnosed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which they said was caused by Roundup use on the family property. The wife of one of the plaintiffs will receive $100.000 for damages suffered due to her husband's illness. According to operators, the ruling increases investor pressure on the German company to change its legal strategy on the herbicide issue.
